Explore New Zealand's wines

The Wine Zealand Project takes you in its luggage to meet the New Zealand winemakers. Freshly arrived in Maori land, it's time to present our project (it's a bit like "I'll go and drink a cannon at your place... in New Zealand ! ".) and our first impressions of these new world wines. Let's go!

Why New Zealand?

• Because New Zealand wine is young, dynamic, growing, but above all of a quality that is more and more popular. Moreover, many French winegrowers have not been mistaken and have settled on the other side of the world.
• Because we enjoy total freedom: we plant what we want where we want. We create, we innovate, we experiment.
• Because 94% of wine-growing land is certified sustainable development but above all because respect for the soil is not something we take lightly.
• Because, as a framework for wine tourism there are worse, let's just mention the great walks, Mordor, the giant green mussels, the Te Araroa trail, the Maori culture, rugby, the Kauris forests...

And as we thirsted for adventure, discovery, encounters, breathtaking scenery and wine, we thought New Zealand was for us.

Our first drops of New Zealand wine: Auckland

Wine is meant to be a shared experience. All the wineries that we have come across are open to the public every day with a real tasting area/guest reception area. The places are convivial, often accompanied by a restaurant. The best place to enjoy a New Zealand wine is therefore in its environment. We like this side very much. Each wine tells its story in its place of conception.

Speaking of history, we have been marked by the systematic description of each bottle in the wine list of restaurants (we haven't yet done all the restaurants in the country). We explain in a few lines its main aromas and with which it is advisable to associate it. Well it's not stupid...

In short, to get to the heart of the grape, the red wines seemed complicated to us to apprehend. We were very pleasantly surprised by the Syrah 2013. An excellent year that produced very rich and intense Syrah. Otherwise you have to dig deeper (and spend more) to find surprising things. Conversely, white wines are immediately very seductive. One finds there very pronounced fruit aromas completely different from the more mineral wines that we know on our continent.

Of course this is a first approach, we can't wait to discover the famous Pinot Gris of Central Otago, the Bordeaux grape varieties of Matakana or (of course) the Sauvignon Blanc of Marlborough.

Favourite: Brick Bay in New Zealand

Let's talk about "coup de coeur" to finish. We loved the experience offered by Brick Bay (in the Matakana region). Like the place, their wines are elegant and very finely crafted. We will devote a next article to this domain, because it's good, it's fine, it can be drunk endlessly... but always in moderation.

Wine Zealand Project (for Les Grappes)